Heart-Lung Machine Saves Heart-attack Victim

James Manzi is lucky to be alive. When the 79-yearold
Brentwood, California, resident arrived at Ronald
Reagan UCLA Medical Center’s emergency room in
full cardiac arrest, the medical team tried everything to
stabilize him, including shocking his heart 29 times with
a defibrillator in an attempt to restore a normal rhythm.

James Manzi, with his wife Barbara, is enjoying life after an
emergency team at UCLA put a heart-lung machine to unique use
to save his life.Photo: Dr. William Suh

It was a long-shot; only one out of every 10 people
who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital
survives. Seeing that the efforts to resuscitate
Manzi were proving fruitless, UCLA emergencymedicine
physician Eric Savitsky, MD (RES ’95,
FEL ’97), made an urgent request for a rarely used
but potentially lifesaving technology known as
extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO.

ECMO employs a sophisticated pump to take
over the functions of the heart and lungs and is
traditionally used to support adults in cardiac failure
waiting for a heart transplant and to help protect the
delicate respiratory systems of premature infants.
And, in this case, it proved to be a lifesaver for Manzi.
Once on the ECMO device, his heart stabilized, and
he was able to undergo coronary angioplasty on an
artery that was completely blocked; a stent also was
placed to keep the artery open. He has since made
a nearly 100 percent recovery.

“We are so pleased that this rare use of ECMO
helped save Mr. Manzi’s life,” Dr. Savitsky says.
“ECMO may be a viable option in very select heartattack
patients who come to emergency rooms that
are equipped to provide this therapy.”

Manzi is grateful to the emergency and cardiac
teams that went the extra mile to save his life — his
wife Barbara calls them “angels in green” — and in
April, he had the pleasure of being surrounded by
family and friends while celebrating his 80th birthday.
“I’ve always enjoyed my life and now appreciate it
even more,” says the father of five, who also has six
grandchildren. “Just being alive is wonderful.”

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